Home
by Liz Hollow
Summary: When he offered me a place to stay, I never expected to turn his house into my home. Lyra/Steven Stone.


**Home**

When he offered me a place to stay, I never expected to turn his house into my home. But somehow, it felt that right to me. Like I could stay there forever, like it was my own home, like I wanted to stay. It was so comfortable to me, despite its empty walls and simple layout. It didn't need more than that.

I traveled to Hoenn on a whim, up and leaving all of my friends and family behind in Johto. They wished me all the best, hoping I would have a good time in Hoenn, but I wasn't going for vacation. I was going to collect all of their Gym Badges. But I had planned this too late, never booking a reservation for a hotel to stay in when I got there.

It had to be fate, then, that I ran into Steven Stone. The same man who had given me my Torchic—who had now evolved into a handsome Blaziken—and helped me find Latios. That had been a few years ago, though, and I doubted he even remembered me. I had left behind my childhood in Johto, and I was now a woman, not a girl.

But he recognized me.

Approaching me the moment I stepped off the boat, he smiled. "Lyra, right?" He held his hand out to me as I nodded, blushing slightly from being recognized. But it wasn't like anyone else here in Hoenn knew me. I could make my fresh start here. "The Champion from Johto. Though, if I remember correctly, I met you in Kanto. It's really nice to see you again."

I frowned, pulling my hand back and looking down, slightly annoyed that he brought _that_ up. Why couldn't I just be Lyra? Why did I have to be the "Champion from Johto"? Did I just not exist before any of that happened? Who was I then, huh? Being Champion never defined me, and I never wanted it to.

"Yeah," I muttered, and as I looked back up at Steven, I could tell he was confused. "I'm actually not the Champion anymore. Just so you know."

Steven just smiled at me again, shrugging it off. "Once a Champion, always a Champion. And, anyways, it's okay. I'm not, either." He shoved his hands in the pockets of his weird zig-zaggy suit, glancing at the sea. "So, what brings you to Hoenn? Do you have some business to take care of over here?"

I rubbed the back of my neck, shrugging. "I'm challenging the Gyms here, actually. Just… yeah. Just challenging the Gyms." I blushed as I realized I still had nowhere to go, and I laughed quietly in spite of this. "Hey, Mr. Stone, do you where I could find a hotel? I kind of forgot to make reservations for one before I came, and now—well, I have no place to head to."

He held up a hand, and I furrowed my eyebrows. "Mr. Stone is my dad. Call me Steven." I smiled, giggling at this. There was something about calling him "Mr. Stone" that felt so awkward to me, and I was glad I could call him by his first name instead. "And, actually, you came to Hoenn at the worst possible time. This is our big tourism season… I'm afraid all of the hotels here are booked solid. You could always stay at a Pokémon Center. Here."

He handed me a card, motioning to the PokéGear attached to my bag. "That's a map of Hoenn. You can download it to your PokéGear there."

I smiled at him, taking the card and staring at it. "I feel like whenever the two of us meet, you're always helping me out. Like I'm a damsel in distress or something. Sorry about that. Hopefully the next time we meet will be a little more exciting." I waved to him, and he opened his mouth without saying anything. "Thank you, Steven."

I began to walk away when he stopped me, reaching out and grabbing my arm. He watched me carefully as I turned back around, smiling with a sigh. For such a well-put together guy, Steven was falling apart here. I couldn't help but find it kind of… cute. Well, not kind of. Really cute. Practically puppy-cute.

"Sorry. I'm being horribly rude. I can't just send a young lady like yourself to a Pokémon Center your first time coming to Hoenn. That wouldn't leave a very nice impression." I opened my mouth in attempt to protest the fact that he called me a young lady—I was clearly a mature young woman—but he held up a hand. "I have a house in Mossdeep. There's a Gym there, and… if you want, you can stay with me for a little while. Until you're ready to leave."

"Oh!" I laughed, fumbling with the card he gave me and dropping it on the ground. Steven bent down to pick it up for me before I could even move. "Steven, you don't have to do that for me. I'm used to staying in the Centers, honestly. It will be just like Johto…" I grimaced, hoping he didn't notice my bitter tone.

He did.

"Well, you clearly don't want it to be 'just like Johto'. I know we don't know each other very well, and the idea might be strange, but… the option is there if you want it." He handed the map card back to me, smiling very business-like. Ah. So there it was. Champions connecting with Champions. Business. Games. That was all it was.

So, I would play along.

"That sounds great, Steven." I smiled again, holding eye contact and waiting for him to break it first. He didn't. "Thank you."

* * *

I stayed there longer than I ever planned. It wasn't that the Gym Leaders in Hoenn were tough. I defeated Tate and Liza so quickly that I forgot I had ever given up battling. It came back so naturally, and for awhile, that scared me. When I won, I retreated back to Steven's house, a coward among fools.

He noticed. He always did. When I came back from that first Gym battle with a badge in my hand and a frown on my face, tears streaming down my face, he noticed. He didn't bombard me with questions, and he didn't treat me like a little girl. He just cooked me some noodles and made me tea, sitting down with me for a meal.

And he let me talk.

"I'm a sore loser," I told him, and he set his cup of tea down on the table.

"You won," he pointed out, and I smiled, shaking my head.

I twirled my spoon around in my cup, staring at that instead of at Steven. "No. Not that. I, um, gave up battling for a little while before I got here. A year, actually." I laughed again, so tempted to chuck this cup at the wall, to just throw a tantrum. But a nineteen-year-old ex-Champion could never do that. "Because I lost. I quit battling because I lost."

I laughed again, slamming my cup down on the table—nearly knocking over a stack of books—and shaking my head. "I had never lost a battle before… and then I lost. To _Silver_. I was so… angry at him for finally beating me. I should have been happy for him. But I wasn't, and… I left. I fled to my home and gave up battling. I worked a real job. It was great." I rolled my eyes, holding onto my cup if only because it kept my hands warm. "I got sick of sitting around, so I came here to prove that I could still win. But… I just keep thinking that I'll lose."

Steven leaned back in his chair, taking a sip of his tea before leaning back against the table and staring at me. I was so embarrassed about this admission that I wanted to look away, but something about those eyes kept me looking.

"Let me tell you a secret: everyone loses eventually. It's just a matter of admitting it to yourself."

Then, he stood up, walking around the table and putting a hand on my head. It was the gentlest touch, something I should have overlooked. But that touch resonated with me, and I could never look at Steven the same way again. I couldn't just look at him as my temporary host. There was more to it.

So, I left again.

* * *

I defeated half the Gyms in Hoenn with relative ease. No one posed a threat to me in the least, and here I was, hoping that someone as strong as Silver would come around to challenge me. Because I wanted to prove to myself that I could lose and not care. That I was just angry because it was Silver, and I always told myself that Silver would never win.

But it wasn't him. I would have been angry had it been anyone else.

It didn't take me long at all to start feeling guilty about leaving Steven just like that. I had left some money for him as thanks for letting me stay at his house, but it still bugged me that I abandoned him just like I abandoned everyone else. Like he was no different.

He was.

I ended up in Petalburg, ready to beat the Gym Leader there just as I had everyone else. Plus, he was a Normal-type Leader. None of his Pokémon would stand a chance against my—oh. My Blaziken. I had been specifically refusing to allow him to battle. And I could very well win the battle without using him, but…

I used my Blaziken, anyway. What would it hurt? I had been shunning him completely, refusing to send him out for anything. Tate and Liza, Roxanne, Brawly, Wattson… I didn't need Blaziken for any of them. And it wasn't right for me to punish him for any of this. It was all my fault.

"That was impressive," a voice that didn't belong to the Gym Leader told me after the battle. I had won, of course; my Blaziken hadn't suffered terribly from my neglect, and I was happy for that, at least. And I hadn't felt terrible after using him in battle as I thought I would. Up until Steven actually showed up.

I stared at him as Norman walked me to the exit of the Gym. Why had he shown up?

"Steven."

"Nice to see you again. Hey, Norman, she put up a heck of a battle, didn't she?" Steven held his hand out to Norman, and the two shook. Norman grinned at him, laughing as Steven let go of his hand and crossed his arms at me. I could see some annoyance in his eyes, and I forced myself to watch Norman instead.

"Yeah, she's pretty good. Almost as good as my kid." Norman laughed, and I smiled weakly. "Champion material, I think, huh, Steven?"

I groaned—as subtly as I could—before smiling in agreement.

Steven had to ruin it. "Oh, she didn't tell you?" I stared at him, eyes wide, silently pleading with him not to tell Norman. "Lyra, here, is the Champion from Johto. Ex-Champion, actually. She came over to Hoenn looking for some better battling after a brief hiatus. She might actually be a threat to Brendan."

Norman looked impressed. I wasn't.

"Thanks," I muttered, my voice dry and bitter. "Norman, thank you for the battle." I bowed to him, turning quickly on my heel and leaving before anyone could stop me. Before Steven could stop me. Because I didn't want to be stopped now.

* * *

I knocked on the door of his house, desperately hoping that he was home. A few moments passed, and I held my breath. Nothing. No one came to the door. So, I sighed, banging on the door one last time before walking away. Steven was a wanderer, all right. I shouldn't have even tried to stop by. It was stupid.

"Are you looking for Steven Stone?"

Looking around, an older woman—probably in her late fifties—waved at me, and I nodded. "If you're looking for Steven, he'll be back in a few minutes. He's helping my son right now," she told me, and I couldn't stop myself from smiling. Considering I was the one who had left him, I was really pleased that he hadn't left me.

"Thank you!"

I waited outside his door until he returned. I thought, for a moment, that he would just turn around and walk away when he saw me waiting for him. He didn't. When he saw me standing beside his door, he waved at me, a smile glued to his face. Hadn't he felt bitter before? What was going on now?

"Hey, Lyra. How many badges do you have?"

"Steven."

He gave me a hard look. "Lyra."

I narrowed my eyes, crossing my arms as he opened the door to his house. If he was trying to make me frustrated, it was working. I didn't know why I had come back, but for some reason, I just felt the need to. That after everything, Steven mattered to me. I didn't want to abandon him, and it was a mistake that I did.

"Seven. Juan is my last one," I finally said as I walked inside behind him. I didn't move from the entryway, instead planting my feet and staring at him. "It takes awhile to get to Sootopolis, though, and I—"

"Need a place to stay." Steven kept his back turned to me, and I pursed my lips. That hadn't exactly been my thought. It was more like, _I just wanted to stop by_. But if he was offering, I wasn't going to refuse. "Sorry, all full up here." He held up his hands, gesturing around him, and I finally took my eyes off him long enough to look around.

He hadn't had much stuff to begin with inside his house, but whatever had been left had been packed up into cardboard boxes, stacked neatly in a little corner of his living room. I stepped out of the entryway and into the house, staring at the table where we had eaten dinner together. It had been the only messy thing in the house, and now all the books that once sat on it were gone.

"You're moving."

Steven shrugged, walking further into his empty living room. "I decided it was time. I don't spend too much time here, and I figured I should get a place closer to the mountains where I can look for rare rocks." He finally turned around to face me, his eyes sad.

There was no way this was happening.

"But, Steven, you can't…" I tugged at my ponytails, too nervous to do anything else. "I mean, where am I supposed to find you?"

"We always seem to run into each—"

"I don't want to just run into you!" I interrupted, my voice cracking. I walked closer to him, closing the distance between us, and he tensed. I pretended not to notice. "I want to be able to know where you are. I want to be able to find you if I need you. I want to talk to you because you're so easy to confess everything to. I want to make sure you don't leave me even though I left you. I won't ever leave again if you just promise me you won't."

Steven stood still for a moment as if trying to figure out how to respond to that. He opened his mouth a few times, but nothing ever came out. We just stood there facing each other, the space between us narrow, waiting for something to happen.

"Maybe I can… find a space for you to sleep… somewhere between these boxes," he finally said, and I smiled. This was better than nothing.

* * *

"You used Blaziken during that battle with Norman."

Steven handed me a cup of tea, setting his own down on the clean table. I learned quickly from staying with him that his knowledge of cooking was lacking. He knew how to heat up noodles and make tea, and that was about it. Unfortunately, I wasn't much help. I usually got food from restaurants as I passed through towns.

"Is that evolved from the Torchic I gave you?"

He looked at me expectantly, and I nodded. "Yeah. I've held onto him since you gave him to me. Couldn't let him go, I guess."

Steven nodded, a soft smile forming on his lips. "I'm glad."

* * *

This time I told him when I was leaving. I still had one more Gym to go to, and he promised me that he wouldn't move until I came back to him—if he moved at all. He had packed all of his things, but no one had actually bought his house yet. Plus, he hadn't bought a house yet, either. So, moving sort of seemed like an impossible thing right now.

I was secretly happy about this.

"I'll see you in a little while, okay?" His eyes moved to mine, holding my gaze for moments too long. There was something in his eyes that immediately frightened me. "Hey, what's wrong? Steven, come on."

"You'll come back this time, right? I don't need to go looking for you?"

I hesitated, furrowing my eyebrows in surprise. What did he mean by that? "Looking for me?"

His cheeks colored red, something I never thought I'd see. He rubbed the back of his head, smiling awkwardly, and I grinned. He was cute. Really cute. Puppy-cute. And I felt my heart beat hard against my chest as I looked at him. If he could tell, he didn't let on.

"Yeah, well… when you never came back, I thought something had happened. I didn't want to believe that you actually left. Not that I wanted you to stay!" He held up his hands before smacking one to his face. "I didn't mean that. I mean, I wanted you to stay, but… I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Don't make me come looking for you again."

I smiled, walking towards him and wrapping my arms around his neck in a hug. "Right."

When I walked away, he stood there like he didn't know how to react.

* * *

It felt like I was returning home.

Heading back towards Steven's house, I clutched my eighth badge in my hand, proof that I had made it this far. There was so much more to battling than just winning and losing. I just needed to find that out for myself, and Steven had given me the chance to. And now that I had, I was returning to him with proof.

I was coming back. That was proof enough.

Finally reaching his house, I held my hand up to the door, ready to knock when I heard voices inside. I was never one for eavesdropping, but I had never heard of Steven having any other visitors. Somehow, I thought Steven spent so much time outside of his house that no one actually knew where he lived.

"—rumors about a girl staying with you, Steven. You have a name to live up to, son. I've never once criticized you for anything, but this… this is mad. You do know what people are saying about you, don't you?" an older man's voice demanded, and I narrowed my eyes. Mr. Stone? Steven's dad? The president of Devon Corporation?

"Dad, those rumors are iniquitous, yes, but… Lyra isn't just a girl, and I don't feel the need to lie to anyone about her presence here. She needed a place to stay, and I offered my home to her. Isn't it in the Stone nature to be generous?" Steven sounded so calm compared to his father, but I didn't doubt that his father was just as kind as he was. "I'm not going to just kick her out on the street. This is her first time to Hoenn."

"You've met plenty of people like her. People who have come to Hoenn for the first time. You never turned your house into a hotel for them. And she's so _young_."

"She's nineteen. I'm twenty-eight. There's only a nine-year difference. I don't see the big scandal…" Steven sounded bored now, his voice growing quiet, and I leaned closer against the door. "Listen, Dad, I already knew Lyra when she came here. She's got something in her that I haven't seen in anybody in a long time. Even Brendan… she has something that he doesn't. I don't disappoint you very often, but if this is the only thing that does, I'm okay with that."

There was a pause, and I cupped my hands around my ear to make sure I wasn't missing anything important. Finally, I heard a laugh, powerful and booming.

"Oh, Steven. Are you in love with her? You _want_ her to stay here?"

I swallowed, feeling my cheeks heat up. Steven, in love with me? Please. He had so much more class than that. I was aiming high with him, and he was so clearly out of my league. For him to fall in love with a girl like me… it wasn't like him.

But then he spoke, and my heart flipped inside of me. "What if I am?"

Another pause, this one longer. Finally, I heard shuffling towards the door, and I backed away, scrambling for a place to flee. But before I could move, the door swung open, revealing Mr. Stone and a flustered Steven close behind him. I smiled weakly, wiggling my fingers in a delicate wave at him.

"Nice to meet you, sir. I'm Lyra," I said, holding out my hand to the older gentleman. He shook it, unsure what else to do.

Steven, on the other hand, gathered his bearings quickly. "Lyra, how long have you been listening?" he demanded, and the smile vanished off my face. I tugged at my pigtail nervously with one hand, fiddling with my badge in the other as I tried to conjure up some excuse. I didn't want to lie to him, but I didn't really want to be honest, either.

"Um… well… awhile, I guess." I looked at Mr. Stone, frowning at him. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I just returned from Sootopolis, and I—I'm sorry." I bowed at Steven's father, blushing in embarrassment.

Mr. Stone looked at Steven, his eyes holding something mysterious. "Hmm… well, I kind of like her."

* * *

We sat in silence at the table for the longest time. I tapped my fingers repeatedly on the dry wood, my nails clicking in rhythm. Steven watched me, holding his head up with his hand, but he didn't say anything. Time was moving horribly slow this way.

"So…" I finally said to break the silence. "Your dad seems nice."

Steven hummed. "Yeah, he's a good guy. Real philanthropist… and I think he actually does like you. You apologizing kind of warmed him up. And," Steven sighed, "I have a pretty good relationship with my dad. Even though he doesn't really like the rumors going around—and I apologize for that; it's my fault—if I like you, he likes you."

I grinned smugly, crossing my arms now. "It was a yes, then?" I asked, and Steven raised an eyebrow. "He asked if you loved me, and you said, 'What if I do?'" I imitated his deep voice, and he rolled his eyes at me. "The answer was actually yes."

"Oh."

Steven looked down, folding his hands together and staring at them as if they were the most interesting things in the room. If he felt the same way I felt, and I hoped that was true, then I was perfectly content with staying here with him. I couldn't see myself ever leaving again. No abandonment, no hard feelings.

"Steven?"

"When we met, I knew I could trust you. When we met again, I knew that I would see you again. When we met in Slateport, I knew that you were going to be more than just another ex-Champion. When you cried that day and told me your story, I knew my heart was opening up to you. When you left, my heart broke." He sounded so sad, and I wanted to reach out and fix that broken heart of his. "When I saw you battling with Blaziken… I knew."

I reached a hand across the table, and he hesitantly put his in it. "You don't have to be so scared, you know. If anyone knows about that, it's me. You just have to… find your home, I guess. Find where you're comfortable. Then… it all works out." I smiled at him, squeezing his fingers. "I'm sorry for leaving. I was scared that you didn't love me back. But I'm not scared anymore."

He stood up, leaning across the table and kissing me. Just soft and simple. Nothing short of perfection.

"By the way… welcome home. Want to help me unpack?"

I raised my eyebrows, looking over at the boxes in the living room. "Unpack? You mean… you're not moving?"

Steven just shrugged, a tiny smile forming on his lips. His adorably cute kissable lips. "I'm going to stay for awhile. But only if you do, too." I nodded. If he stayed, I'd stay. "Perfect."

Home sweet home. And what was better than that?

* * *

**Author's Note:** Whoa, loooooong one-shot. And still some questions remained unanswered. What happened to Silver? What about her home in Johto? Well… that's up to you. ;)

Another really random pairing that I love! How come no one else writes these? Geez, am I just, like, really weird or something?

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.


End file.
